Promises Of Years Before
by OfficialFlannel
Summary: [Shadow x Amy] It's the day Shadow always dreads. The day Maria Robotnik died. And he would spend the day like he did every year. Locking himself inside his house to drink until he couldn't remember why he was in the first place. But this time's different as Amy, fed up with Shadow's moping, visits the reclusive hedgehog in hopes of cheering him up. But things don't go as planned.
1. On Time

Shadow was aboard the Space Colony ARK. He and Maria were with her grandfather and his creator, Gerald Robotnik, who was talking to them about the planet, Earth.

"It is a marvelous planet. There are billions of people and all of them lived together in peace. There are giant cities and small town where people can live and be happy."

Maria smiled happily, "Do you think we can go to Earth soon, Grandpa?"

Gerald's smile faded for a brief moment, but it was back too quick for Maria to notice.

"Of course we can, Maria. After you get better. I'll take you and Shadow to Earth."

Shadow noticed though and he knew why the doctor seemed to become sadden by his granddaughter's wish to see Earth. Because of her disease, called Neuro-Immune Deficiency Syndrome or N.I.D.S. for short

It was a disease that left it's victims to grow physically weak and it only got worse over time. It was both incurable and fatal. Gerald spent thousands of dollars in researching a cure to help save his granddaughter, even going so far to create Shadow, in hopes of saving Maria.

"Oh, grandpa. I can't wait. I hope I get better soon."

A single near-invisible tear trailed down Gerald's face as he smiled to mask his despair, knowing his granddaughter probably wouldn't survive to see next month if he couldn't find a cure in time.

"You'll get better soon, my dear Maria. I promise."

Maria let out a squeal of joy and hugged the old doctor, who held her tightly. Shadow locked eyes with the doctor and they both knew time was running out. Neither knew how quickly though.

Suddenly screams were heard and then gunfire sounded somewhere in the facility. Gerald looked towards the door where they faintly heard the sound of boots stomping on the metal floors of the ARK. Then the door to the room burst open and several G.U.N. agents, rushed in, guns raised and aimed at them.

"There's the project. Kill it and then kill the witnesses!"

Gerald held up his hands in surrender, "Wait, don't shoot. I'll come with you. You can kill me, throw me in jail. Do whatever! Just don't hurt my granddaughter."

The men ignored him. One raised his weapon and let loose a shot towards Shadow. Then before anyone could blink, he was taken down by the hedgehog, who seem to teleport next to him and slammed his fist into the man's unprotected throat. He crumbled and the others turned on Shadow, firing their guns at him. He quickly took them all out, but one was able to shoot Gerald in the shoulder, who fell to the ground. Maria rushed to her grandfather's side.

"No! Don't hurt my grandpa!"

Shadow was just finishing off the last man before he turned to Gerald and Maria. The doctor was still alive but wounded. He gritted his teeth as he pressed a hand against his bullet wound. Then Shadow heard a faint click and his heart stopped. He turned around a second too late as the gun went off, the bullet catching Maria in the chest, who had been standing in front of Gerald. Both Shadow and Gerald watched as Maria fell to the ground and didn't get back up.

The G.U.N. agents were back on their feet and started to beat at Shadow with the butts of their guns. Shadow fell to his knees, to stunned at Maria's death to fight back. They all stopped hitting him and Shadow felt a cold barrel of a gun pressed into the back of his head. He locked eyes with the doctor one last time and whispered.

"I'm sorry, doctor."

 _ **Bang!**_

 _ **X X X**_

Shadow woke with a start, still very much alive and in his house, lying in his bed. He just had another nightmare that seemed almost too real. Shadow's heart slowed from a thundering to a faint thumping as he threw the blankets off of him and checked the clock. It was 6:30 am exactly.

Right on time. Quite the wake-up call to a day Shadow always hated when it came, no matter how many years went by.

The day Maria Robotnik died.


	2. Shop Till You Drop Dead

After a cold shower, Shadow found his stomach felt emptier than usual. That wasn't weird, as with him being the Ultimate Life form, he didn't need to eat or drink. But still, he enjoyed the activity of cooking and eating a meal, so he went to make himself something for breakfast. But when he went down to his kitchen and checked the fridge, he found there was barely anything to eat. The hedgehog sighed in annoyance, as he realized now that he would have to go outside and probably talk to people in order to make it to the grocery store.

The grocery store was a place Shadow rarely ever visited since as mentioned before, he had no reason to consume food. But today was different and he always ate today, no matter what. He left his house, hopped on his motorcycle and sped down the road towards his destination. Shadow made it to the local grocery store within a few minutes and found a parking spot for his bike.

A _**handicap**_ parking spot.

Shadow chose to ignore the sign though, seeing as he probably only be in the store for a few minutes. He turned off his bike, put the kickstand up, and went inside the grocery store. Shadow grabbed a cart and made his way down one of the aisles, his crimson eyes scanning the shelves for anything that interested him. He grabbed a few boxes of rice and some brown sugar from another aisle before heading to the checkout

When he got to the checkout though, he saw there was only one cashier working and four other people in line. Shadow sighed in annoyance and went to the self-checkout to make this go by quicker. He took out one of the boxes of rice and ran it across the scanner. A sharp beep sounded followed by a robotic female voice.

 _"Please scan again."_

Shadow frowned and sighed, running the box over again.

 _"Please scan again."_

Shadow tried a few more times with the same result, each time making the black hedgehog more and more annoyed before he was seething with anger. Shadow grit his teeth and slammed the box down on the scanner in anger. Then to his surprise, a happy beep sounded and the total for the box came up. Sighing in relief, Shadow was able to scan the rest of his items without any more violence thankfully and bagged up his groceries, making his way outside.

He was about halfway to his motorcycle when he noticed someone next to it. He narrowed his eyes and walked over slowly, wondering just who was next to his bike and why they were there. As he got closer he realized the person was a grocery store employee. More importantly, he noticed it was Amy, dressed in a dark green grocer's apron. He sighed, he was hoping he wasn't going to see any of his "friends" today. But it seems fate hates him this morning.

He walked behind Amy and spoke up, "What are you doing?"

Amy jumped in surprise and turned to see him. Her face was a mask of fear, but soon went away replaced by a look of annoyance.

"Oh, Shadow. You shouldn't sneak up on people like that."

"And you, Amy, shouldn't be near other people's vehicles without their permission."

"This is your motorcycle? Of course, it is."

"Is there a problem?"

"You are parked in a handicapped spot, Shadow."

"Your point."

"My point is that you can't park here unless you are physically disabled. And you aren't."

"I was just there for a second, no need to get all bent out of shape."

Amy was starting to get annoyed with Shadow's stubborn nature as she stomped her foot and tensed up.

"Listen here! Just because you are the Ultimate life form and all that doesn't mean-"

Shadow ignored her, pushing her aside as he climbed onto his bike,

"Good talk, Rose."

The bike roared to life and Shadow sped away, leaving Amy dumbfounded and annoyed. She glared and grumbled to herself as she walked back to the store.

"Stupid grumpy Shadow. It's _never_ his fault. . ."


	3. Knock, Knock It's Amy!

Shadow slammed the door shut as he returned home. He locked the door and threw his keys on the nearby table. He walked into the kitchen and set down his groceries. He started to gather up some pots and other things to start cooking his morning meal. He filled a pot with water and set it on the stove. After a few minutes, the water was alive with a roaring boil. Shadow dumped the rice in the pot and waited.

A few more minutes went by and his food was ready. He plated the rice, now drained of water and dusted with sugar, and went to go sit on his living room couch. He spooned up some of the rice and was about to put the first spoonful in his mouth when a loud knocking sounded, causing the hedgehog to drop his spoon and sending rice all over the floor. Sighing in annoyance, Shadow set his plate aside and walked to his front door, wondering who would be stupid enough to disturb him. Especially on this day. He unlocked the door and threw it open, annoyance very clear in his eyes.

"Hey, Shadow! Finally up and around I see!"

Shadow's already unhappy mood soured even further as he glared at the blue hedgehog before him. "Sonic. Leave."

Shadow went to shut the door, but Sonic's foot stopped it from fully closing. Sonic leaned against the door and pushed his head between the door and the frame, the grin never leaving his face.

"Ah, c'mon Shads! Quit being so grumpy all the time."

Shadow opened the door fast and causing Sonic to fall to the ground, face planting. Sonic was back on his feet within seconds, the grin now smaller as he shook his head.

"Now that wasn't too nice."

Shadow suddenly grabbed Sonic by the neck and pulled him closer, Sonic stared into the other hedgehog's crimson eyes, full of murder and fire, and his confidence shrank a bit. Shadow spoke low and slow to make sure the fast-brained hedgehog knew he meant business.

"Sonic, I'm going to say this once. Go. The. Fuck. Away. Understand."

Sonic nodded, completely silent for once. Shadow released his grip on the Blue Blur's throat. Sonic rubbed his neck in discomfort as he shot an annoyed frown at Shadow.

"Jeez, Shadow! You could've just told me to leave, ya know!"

Shadow was about to mention he did tell him to leave, but Sonic was already walking away, a hand still on his slightly bruised throat.

Shadow slammed and locked his door once more before going back to his lonely breakfast. He managed to eat his rice, watch some documentary on television, and even do the dishes before the knocking on his door sounded again an hour and a half later. Figuring it was Sonic again, Shadow felt anger burned inside him as he stormed to the door and threw it open so hard, he nearly ripped it off its hinges.

"Sonic, I thought I told you to-"

Shadow's angry sentence stopped short as he noticed that this wasn't Sonic on his front step, but Amy in fact.

The girl had changed out of her work clothes and was now wearing a pink sweatshirt and jeans. She looked a bit startled, having been scared by Shadow twice today already, but it soon went away as she smiled sheepishly.

"Nope, not Sonic. Just me."

Shadow calmed down as he let go a breath he didn't know he had been holding in, "Rose. What are you doing here?"

Amy seemed surprised that Shadow didn't just tell her to go away like he normally did. "Well. . .I. . .I just wanted to see if you wanted to come to a dinner party I'm having later tonight. Everyone's coming. Sonic, Knuckles, Roug-"

"No thanks, Rose."

Shadow moved to close the door, but Amy stopped it, pulling it open again and Shadow didn't stop her for some reason. Maybe he wanted her to try and convince him to go. Maybe he really didn't wanna spend this day all alone like he every year.

But he knew he had to.

"Wait, Shadow! C'mon. Every year on this day, you always lock yourself in your house. But if you just spent the day being with friends, you'd be a lot happier!"

"I don't want to be happy. I want to be alone."

"Is that what Maria would want for you?"

Amy bit her tongue too late, knowing she crossed the line as Shadow's face became a mixture of anger and sadness.

"Don't you _**ever**_ tell me she would want. You have no right. Now get the hell off of my property before I call the cops."

Shadow shut the door in Amy's face and she heard the sounds of the door being locked and footsteps leading into the house as Shadow locked himself away. Amy sighed and looked down at her shoes, feeling a sense of regret she even mentioned Maria to the black hedgehog, as everyone knew she was still a touchy subject to him even after all these years. Amy waited at the door to see if maybe Shadow would come out to see if she was still here, but he never did. So Amy left but told herself that she'd be back. She was going to get Shadow to open up, even if it killed him.

Or her.


	4. Arm Wrestling And Drunk Songs

Shadow listened to Amy leave, hearing her boots trod down the sidewalk and away from his house. As soon as he felt like she was gone completely, he slammed his fist into the wall next to him, anger boiling his blood.

How dare she even mention Maria to him? She had absolutely no right to use her against him like that!

Shadow took a few deep breathes to calm himself down and went into the kitchen. Time to finish off the day like he did every year. By getting completely wasted until he couldn't see straight or feel anything, physically or emotionally.

He grabbed a bottle of liquor and a shot glass. He took the items into the living room, where the television was showing an old movie. Shadow paid no attention to the move, it was merely background noise, and he poured himself his first shot. The liquor burned his throat slightly as it went down and he sighed deeply. Another shot went down soon after. After a few more shots, he realized this was getting him nowhere. So Shadow sat the glass down on the coffee table and proceeded to bring the bottle to his lips, drinking deeply.

Money can't buy happiness, but it can sure buy enough alcohol to make you feel something close to it.

 _ **X X X**_

Across town, Amy's party was in full swing. Everyone had shown up, even Sonic. Although Amy waited by the door, to see if maybe Shadow would come too. But after thirty minutes had passed, she soon gave up. Shadow wasn't coming and she knew that. She went back into the kitchen where a couple of her friends, Tails, and Rouge, were. The fox smiled wide as he rambled on about a new invention he was working on to Rouge. The bat girl seemed genuinely interested and that surprised Amy, seeing as science really wasn't Rouge's favorite thing.

"So I just have to fix a few more bugs and then my latest and greatest project will work for sure."

"And what else did you say you needed, hon?"

"Just a gemstone. Any kind could do the trick."

Ah, that makes more sense. . .

"Oh, wonderful! I'm sure I can help you out."

Amy chuckled to herself, seeing as all Rouge cared about was the topic of jewels, and left the two as they continued to talk. She went out to the living room and found Blaze and Silver watching Sonic and Knuckles, who were arguing over who was the strongest, with Knuckles starting to challenge the Blue Blur to an arm wrestling match. Now Sonic may be the fastest thing alive and pretty strong, but _**no one**_ was stronger than Knuckles.

Sonic, of course, didn't care.

"Alright, knucklehead. Let's go!"

"You're on!"

Knuckles and Sonic gripped each other's hands and placed their elbows firmly on Amy's coffee table. Silver seemed to appoint himself as the referee and held up his hand.

"Okay, ready? Three. . .two. . .one. . ."

 _ **"Go!"**_

Both Sonic and Knuckles put all their strength into their arms as one tried to get the other's arm to bend even slightly. Knuckles was obviously going to win, but Sonic kept his cool and held his own. Then all the sudden when it seemed Knuckles was about to win, a crack was heard and everyone watched in surprise and shock as the table broke and split in two, causing the two hotheaded friends to fall down to the carpeted floor.

Amy wasn't too happy as she glared at her friends, "You guys! What the heck?! That coffee table was expensive!"

Sonic hopped to his feet and gave Amy a grin, "Ah, c'mon Ames! It's a party. Lighten up a bit, it's only a stupid coffee table. At least we weren't hurt."

Amy growled in anger as she produced her Piko Piko hammer, "Not yet anyway."

Sonic's grin faltered a bit as he held up his hands in defense, "Ames. . ."

Amy's eyes flashed dangerously as she lifted up her hammer, "Sonic, Knuckles. Run."

Both Sonic and Knuckles were smart enough to listen and were gone in a flash, though Amy wasn't far behind, hammer raised over her head. Silver was laughing at the whole display, only to be burned after Blaze flicked a flame at his arm. Silver winced and stopped laughing to stare at Blaze in disbelief.

"What was that for?"

"Don't laugh. It's not nice."

"Yeah, yeah whatev-Ow! Okay, fine I'm sorry!", Silver muttered in annoyance, only to be burnt by Blaze again.

Blaze smiled slightly as she nodded, "Good. Now let's go calm Amy down before she hurts those two."

 _ **X X X**_

Shadow was drunk.

Completely and utterly wasted.

He was singing softly to himself as he tried to take a drink from another liquor bottle, although he missed and instead poured the alcohol into his lap. Shadow chuckled to himself as the liquor drenched his fur, but then got annoyed as it was cold and wet.

Shadow doesn't like being cold and wet.

Shadow tried to take another drink and was successful, though some of it dripped down his chin. He was about to take another drink when a loud knocking was heard coming from his front door. Angry and annoyed at being interrupted in his drinking, Shadow threw the bottle against the wall and watched as it shattered against the drywall. He glared towards the door, where the knocking was still coming from.

"Look. . .Look what you made me do! Stupid door, quit being loud and making me destroy my b. ..my beer!"

The knocking increased in volume as a reply and Shadow rose from the couch, drunkenly stumbling towards his front door. He threw it open and shouted at the person responsible for the noise.

"Can't you see I'm trying to drink. What the hell. . ."

Shadow stopped his drunken screaming as he saw who was at the door, his heart skipping a beat.

Oh shit.

Oh, what the actual shit.

"Maria. . .?"

 _ **X X X**_

 _ **Quick little author's note here!**_

 _ **Just wanted to say thank you all so much for over 130 views in less than a day!**_

 _ **That is absolutely wonderful and means a lot to me that so many people are reading my little story!**_

 _ **Thanks again, guys :)**_


	5. Fiery Advice

"Amy, you need to stop!"

"No, let me go! I'm gonna brain those two!"

"Amy, please. Calm down!"

Blaze held Amy by one arm and Silver held her by the other, keeping the enraged pink-haired girl firmly in place, though they struggled as Amy's anger made her twice as strong as she pulled and pulled to get away from their grip. After a few more seconds of struggling, Amy finally relaxed and Blaze and Silver let her go. Her hammer went away and she sat down on the ground, her face now had a look of worry on it. Blaze nodded to Silver, who got the message and left. Blaze sat by her friend and put a hand on her shoulder.

"You okay?"

"Yes. . .No. I'm worried about Shadow."

Blaze was surprised and confused. Amy never talked about Shadow, her mind always too focused on Sonic to even think about the black hedgehog. "Shadow? What about him?"

"He always spends today alone. And I tried to get him to come here to be with us and he just slammed the door in my face."

"Maybe you need to get him to talk to someone. Make him open up to someone?"

Amy sighed in exasperation, "But to who?"

"You. Talk to him, get him to open up to _**you**_."

"You think that'll work? He isn't exactly the most talkative person around me. Or anybody really."

Blaze stood up and lifted the pink hedgehog to her feet as well. They locked eyes and Blaze clapper her hands onto the smaller girl's shoulders.

"You can do it, Amy."

Amy smiled, feeling a sense of determination flow through her. She was going to get Shadow to talk to her, to open up. She was going to do this and see it through.

Amy waited until the party guest had left and she cleaned up the mess Sonic made, she left her house and walked down to Shadow's home, which was only a few blocks away from her own thankfully. She climbed up the steps and knocked on the door, hoping Shadow wasn't already asleep for the night.

She heard some glass breaking followed muffled shouting inside. She knocked a little harder this time and was rewarded with the sound of stumbling footsteps as the person made their way to the door. It flew open and Amy could right away Shadow was completely drunk. The hedgehog reeked of alcohol, she could smell it on his breath and on his body, like he had even spilled some of it on himself. He was slurring his words as he yelled at her.

"Can't you see I'm trying to drink? What the hell. . ."

He stopped and just stared like he was seeing her for the first time. His eyes went wide and he whispered almost so quiet Amy almost didn't hear him.

"Maria. . .?"

Wait, what?

Why did Shadow think she was Maria? Was he really that drunk?

Shadow stepped closer towards her and she saw the look of anger was gone in his eyes, replaced by a look of drunken sadness as he whispered again.

"Maria, is that really you?"

Amy was about to say she wasn't really Maria, but then stopped herself. She figured she better go along with it, since a drunk Shadow was normally a dangerous one. Even more than usual. And she didn't know how he would react to being wrong.

"Yes, Shadow. It's me. I'm here."

Shadow then hugged her and her face was mashed against the taller hedgehog's chest. She could feel him shaking as the drunk Ultimate Life Form held her tightly. Shadow let go of her and started to stumble back inside, waving a hand to beckon her to follow him inside. Seeing no other option, Amy followed her drunk friend inside, shutting the door behind her.

Shadow nearly stumbled and fell trying to get back to his living room, causing Amy to have to catch him. Steadying him by putting her arm around him, she led him to the couch and carefully sat him down before sitting down next to him. The drunk haze in his red eyes hadn't faded in the slightest since she arrived and it seemed the hedgehog would be pretty wasted for at least the next few hours. Hopefully, this would make it easier to get Shadow to talk to her.

Even if he did think she was someone else.

"Shadow, are you okay? Why are you drinking?"

Shadow closed his eyes as his drunken mind tried to piece together a good reason, but he opened them again and let out a weary sigh.

"Because I want to."

Amy frowned, that wasn't the answer she was hoping for. "You can't just drink away your problems, Shadow."

Shadow let out a dry chuckle, "Says who?", and then as if to prove his point, he grabbed a nearby bottle of liquor he hadn't used to redecorate the walls and took a long drink. Amy swiped the bottle away from him and set it down on the floor beside her.

"Says me."

He wiped his mouth and stared at the ground, completely forgetting about the alcohol for a moment as he spoke to the ground. "Maria, I failed you. I failed Gerald. I deserve to drown in my failure."

It broke Amy's heart to see Shadow so consumed by his own despair and guilt. She took his hand and gave it a squeeze, causing him to tear his eyes away from the ground and to look at his friend.

"No, you don't. You can't keep blaming yourself for what happened."

"But I. . ."

"Shadow, you need to let go. Mari-, I don't wanna see you hurt."

Amy saw tears in Shadow's eyes start to form and she could feel her own eyes were wet as well.

"Maria, I don't want. . .I can't."

Tears started to stream down the black hedgehog's face as his whole body shook. Amy started to cry too as she held him tightly, rocking him back and forth as she stroked his head.

She whispered in his ear, "It'll b-be okay, Shadow. . ."

". . .It'll be okay."


	6. Hungover Hero

Amy and Shadow stayed there for a few moments, holding each other as they wept in despair together. Finally, Amy moved to lie Shadow down on the couch, the other hedgehog putting up no resistance as she pushed him softly down into the couch's cushions. She sat beside him as the tears continued to flow, although not as much as they were before. Amy continued to stroke Shadow's quills in an effort to completely calm him.

"Shadow, are you going to be okay?"

"I. . .I don't know. Do you think I will be?"

"I know that you will. Trust me."

Amy glanced at the clock and noticed it was well past midnight. She also noticed how tired she truly was as she yawned softly and started to struggle to stay awake. She knew she couldn't just leave Shadow, but her energy was wearing out.

"Shadow, I'm sorry. But I have to go."

Shadow sat up quickly as soon as he heard that and looked at her with a look of utter terror in his hazy drunk eyes, "No! No, Maria, please! I can't lose you again."

Amy lifted her hand to his cheek and rubbed her thumb across it as she gave him a sad smile. "Shadow. You'll be okay, I promise."

"How. . .How do you know?"

"Because you have friends, friends who care about you more than anything. They'll be here for you, even when I'm not."

Shadow could feel the tears threatening to return as he grasped Amy's hand and held it against his cheek. He already lost her once, he didn't know if he could handle that kind of pain again.

Shadow's grip on her hand started to weaken as he felt the alcohol in his system, combined with the lack of sleep, start to affect him. He let his own hand drop back down to his side as he slouched into the couch. He stared at the ground through dead eyes, letting out a depressed and broken sigh.

"I'm so tired, Maria. So very tired. . ."

"Then sleep, Shadow."

Shadow didn't say another word, just nodded and laid back down on the couch. He shut his eyes, only to open them again to look at Amy once more. Amy stared back with a confused expression.

"Shadow?"

"Maria. . .will you still be here when I wake up?"

Amy shook her head, "Even if I'm not, you are gonna be fine. I know it."

That answer seemed to satisfy Shadow as he nodded and laid back down. A few minutes went by and Amy heard the soft sound of Shadow snoring away, all traces of his earlier sadness gone from his face. Amy let out a sigh of relief and, too tired to even move an inch, she laid down beside him. She smiled up at his sleeping face and whispered to the dreaming hedgehog.

"Goodnight, Shadow."

 _ **X X X**_

Sunlight poured through a window left uncovered by the curtains, causing the bright rays to create lines of light. One of those lines hit Amy right in the face, annoyingly waking her from her dreamless sleep. She squinted her eyes in an effort to try and see without being fully blinded, but that was unsuccessful and she opened the completely anyway, her eyes getting used to the bright morning sun as she looked around her, feeling like something was wrong. Then she turned her head towards where Shadow lay.

Or was laying anyway. . .

Amy sat upright quickly and looked around the living room to see where the black hedgehog had gone. It was only when she stood up to look in the other rooms, did she hear someone clear their throat. Turning around, she saw Shadow standing in the doorway to his kitchen, holding a mug of something steamy, possibly coffee or tea.

He eyed her for a few seconds and she did so back, the only sound between the two was the sound of Shadow occasionally sipping his drink during their spontaneous staring contest. After a whole minute of silence, Shadow sighed and stared at his feet.

"She was never really here," Shadow looked back up to Amy, his eyes red from last night's crying, "Was she?"

"Shadow, I-." Amy shook her head, a frown forming on her lips.

"Don't. Please, don't try and make up some idiotic excuse as to why you lied to me, why you pretended to be someone I cared about."

"I was just . .trying to help you."

Shadow stepped into the room, setting his mug down on the coffee table. "Helping? Is that what you call this?"

Amy threw her hands up in the air, "You were drunk! You thought I was Maria and I didn't know if you'd be angry if I told you I wasn't."

"I'm angrier that I was foolish enough to believe you. . ."

Amy stepped closer to Shadow and grabbed his hands, "Even if what I did was wrong, I meant everything "Maria" said. I care about you and so do a lot of people. Maria does too."

Shadow ripped his hands away from her grasp, anger gleaming in his eyes as he spoke through gritted teeth. "Maria's dead, Rose. Maria is fucking dead because of me. _**Me.**_ "

Amy took a step back, fearing Shadow for the first time since she came here, "Shadow, it wasn't your fault. There was nothing you could've done."

Shadow shook his head and before Amy even knew what was happening, Shadow's iron grip was on her as he pulled her into an unexpected kiss. Amy found herself kissing him back just as he broke the kiss. She was nearly speechless as she looked at him with wide eyes, a blush creeping to her cheeks.

"W-What. . ."

Shadow then proceeded to dash to the kitchen. Amy followed him and watched as the hedgehog puked into the sink. He washed his mouth out with a glass of water before turning back to find Amy staring at him, still red in the face.

Shadow wiped his mouth and simply said, "Liquor, not you."

"Why?"

"Alcohol's never been a good friend to me, makes me sick after a while-"

"No, not that! The kiss. What the hell was that for?"

Shadow shook his head, narrowing his eyes as he tried to think of something to say. "I don't know. Maybe I'm still drunk, maybe I'm overwhelmed with emotions that someone actually cares about me. Maybe both. . ."

Amy smiled, despite all the craziness that had happened in a few short hours and hugged Shadow, who hugged back with uncertainty, but soon relaxed and held her back as tight as he could, almost like he was afraid that if he let her go, she'd disappear.

"Shadow, I promise you. You'll never be alone again."

 _ **X X X**_

 _ **Only one more chapter to go!**_

 _ **I plan on publishing it sometime tomorrow.**_

 _ **So make sure to watch for it and also tell me what you think about this so far in the comments below!**_


	7. A Whispered Goodbye (Final Chapter)

It had been a few days since Shadow and Amy's eventful night and now the two were outside, standing in the early morning sun in front of a gate. Beyond that metal gate was a huge stone wall, covered with the names of those who died or went missing aboard the ARK on that horrible day. Shadow wanted to go alone, but Amy followed him anyway. As they stood in front of the gate's closed doors, Shadow once again tried to reason with Amy.

"Rose, you need to go."

Amy frowned, worry in her eyes. "Are you sure you want to do this alone?"

Shadow nodded solemnly and whispered. "I need to. I _**have**_ to."

"Okay, just know I'm right over here if you need me."

"Thank you. . .Amy," Shadow gave a small smile and walked over to the stone wall. His red eyes scanned the wall until he found the name he was looking for.

 _Maria Robotnik, Age 12, Deceased._

Shadow ran his hand over her name, feeling the cold and smooth rock under his fingers. He let out a shaky sigh and looked down at the grass under his feet.

"Maria, I know you probably can't hear me. But I want you to know I'm better now. And that this hurts me so much, but I. . .I have to let you go. I want you to know that I'm happier now. Thanks to you and to my friends."

A single gust of wind blew across, ruffling Shadow's fur. It was as though that was Maria's way of telling him she knew he was going to be okay, even if she wasn't with him. Shadow smiled to himself and turned around to leave. As he made it back to the gate, he stopped at looked back at the wall one last time and he could've sworn he saw a girl in a blue dress, standing there with a small sad smile, mouthing silently the same words he whispered to himself.

"I'll miss you. . ."

Shadow took a deep breathe and opened the gate, walking through it. He didn't look back, and that was alright. Cause he knew no matter what happened he was going to be. . .

Okay. . .

 _ **X X X**_

 _ **Short, but sweet little ending!**_

 _ **Hope you guys enjoyed it and tell me your thoughts in the comments below**_

 _ **Thanks again,**_

 _ **~ Flannel**_


	8. Need Some Help! (Author's Note)

Hey guys, Flannel here!

I need your help with something. I'm going to write a Silver/Blaze fanfic here soon, and I'm thinking of making it an AU (Alternate Universe) fanfic. But I don't know which one to do, so I figured I'd publish this to my other Sonic Fanfics and try to get your opinions!

I posted a poll, which can be found on my profile page, in order for you guys to vote on the AU I should do! So please vote if you wanna. I plan on keeping the poll up until the end of the month!

So the _**1st of March**_ is the deadline, but no pressure to vote if you don't feel like it. It would mean a lot to me though to try and get some reader feedback and help!

So go on and vote away, I can't wait to see your answers!

Thanks again,

~ Flannel 3


	9. Time's Almost Up! (Author's Note)

Hey guys! Sorry for this, but this isn't another chapter or anything. Just a little heads-up.

The poll I posted about is almost closing.

It's for my next Sonic fanfic, which is a Silver/Blaze fanfic with an AU twist. But I didn't know what kind of AU to do, so I asked you guys for some help with that.

I decided I'd better remind you guys, in case you either didn't vote or forget or whatever.

So please vote for which AU you'd like me to write about. The poll will be closed _**Friday, March 1st**_ , so hurry and vote.

Hope this wasn't too annoying, and I'm sorry if I just ended up wasting time for you.

 _ **Edit: As of March, 1st 2019, the poll is closed. Thank you to everyone who voted!**_


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